This announcement came after months of threats by the industry to use every effort to sink the program. Numerous polls show the Oregonians overwhelming support for cleaner transportation fuels. It seems clear now that the oil industry didn’t see a path to victory by “going to the people”. This point can’t be emphasized enough – despite daunting resources and a room full of political consultants, the oil companies still saw state-wide support as too strong for a battle at the ballot.

A bit of history (that hopefully Oregon is not doomed to repeat)

The 2015 legislative fight over the transportation package is one many Oregonians would like to forget. Clean fuels legislation saw unprecedented opposition from the oil industry that caused a complete breakdown of the legislature.

After the legislature voted to fully authorize Clean Fuels, oil lobbyists and their legislative allies tried a less direct route to defeating the new clean air protection – holding the transportation funding package hostage; bizarrely conflating the two unrelated issues. Romain made the industry’s intentions clear when he told reporters that "Nobody was getting a transportation package," until clean fuels was repealed.

The Road Ahead

After losing in the legislature twice, pulling the plug on their ballot initiative and having a lawsuit last fall dismissed, most would believe all avenues had been exhausted. Yet Romain and his employers have said they’ll try again in next year’s session. "The stronger suit is working on a transportation package," Romain told The Oregonian. "To get us to cooperate, we need to have the low-carbon fuel standard fixed."

To Republicans in Congress and in state capitals across the country: It's time to refuse the NRA's support and their money. And donations received in the past should be donated to organizations supporting the survivors of gun violence.